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i^LiBRARY OF Congress.^! 



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^^TqUNITED states of AMERICA. rAiji 

:€?fe 9-167 ^4^:^, 



The Siege of Fort Erie 

An Episode of the War of 1812 



BY 

LOUIS L BABGOCK 



The campaign of 1814. on the Niagara frontier fully determined that 
American citizens furnished the choicest materials for an army ; that when 
well disciplined, instructed in the art of war. and led hy l)rave and enter- 
t>rising generals, they were fully able to meet on equal ground the best 
English troops. 

— Perkins. 



BUFFALO: 

The Petkr Paul Book Company, 
J 899. 





ou-f 



Preface, 

One of the most brilliant events of the War of 1S12 
was the successful defense of Fort Erie by the Americans 
against the veteran troops of the British. Yet, I dare 
say, very few residents along the Niagara frontier are 
aware that within an hour's journey of the city of Buffalo 
occurred some of the most severe fighting the nation 
has ever seen, or that the ruined and tottering wall of 
the old fort, still to be seen, marks the spot where sev- 
eral hundred brave men gave up their lives in desperate 

struggle. 

A period of enforced leisure gave me an opportunity 
to examine the various authorities bearing upon the 
siege of Fort Erie, and this sketch grew out of the 
notes I then made. Undoubtedly errors exist, although 
considerable pains has been taken to carefully verify 
each statement. I trust that they will be pardoned and 
that this sketch may serve to stimulate among a few, at 
least, the study of the history of the Niagara frontier 
during this period, than which nothing could be more 
interesting. 

Buffalo, July lo, iSg^. 



Contents. 

CHAPTER. PAGE. 

I. A Brief Sketch of Fort Erie up to 1 8 14, . . 7 

II. Before the Invasion, . . . . . ■ 12 

III. The Campaign down the Niagara, . . . 18 

IV. The Beginning of the Siege, .... 25 
V. The Attack on the Fort, 34 

VI. The Period between the Assault and the Sortie, . 46 

VII. The Sortie, 55 



THE SIEGE OF FORT ERIE 

An Episode of the IVar of 1812. 



CHAPTER I. 

A Brief Sketch of Fori Erie up to 1S14. 

One of the first travelers who describes the vicinity of 
Buffalo — the first man, in fact, who appreciated the advantages 
of the site where Buffalo now stands — was Baron La Hontan, 
lord lieutenant of the French colony in Newfoundland, wlio, 
after paying a compliment to Niagara Falls by describing them 
as seven hundred or eight hundred feet high, says: 

"The Lake Erie is justly dignified with the illustrious name 
of Couti, for assuredly 'tis the finest Lake upon Earth. You 
may judge of the goodness of the climate from the latitudes of 
the Countries that surround it. Its circumference extends to two 
hundred and thirty leagues but it affords everywhere such a 
charming Prospect that its Banks are deck'd with Oak-Trees, 
Elms, Chestnut-Trees, Walnut-Trees, Apple-Trees, Plum-Trees, 
and Vines which bear their fine clusters up to the very top of 
the Trees upon a sort of ground that lies as smooth as one's 
Hand. Such ornaments as these are sufficient to give rise to the 
most agreeable idea of Landskape in the WorU." 

He describes the locality as abounding in wild game and 
fish and filled with warlike Indians. In a map annexed to his 
journal he locates a prospective fort precisely where the city of 
Buffalo now stands, which he calls Fort Suppose, and advocates 
the erection of a post, which was never built. 

7 



8 The Siege of Fort Erie 

In 1764, Bradstreet, in the course of an expedition against 
the Indians, saw the necessity of erecting a fortified trading post 
near where Fort Erie now stands, and wrote Sir William John- 
son suggesting that the acquisition of sufficient land for this 
purpose was desirable. Before the English Crown succeeded in 
obtaining title to the ground the trading post was abuilding, and 
subsequent ev^ents soon legalized this trespass upon the hunting 
grounds of the Senecas. 

After the collapse of Pontiac's conspiracy, the Senecas, fear- 
ing lest the English would punish them for their participation in 
his scheme, sent some four hundred warriors to Sir William 
Johnson to sue for peace. And it was about time, for the terrible 
massacre at Devil's Hole, perpetrated by this tribe, was fresh in 
the minds of all. This occurred on September fourteenth, 1763, 
at Devil's Hole, a few miles from Fort Niagara, when an escort to 
a train of twenty-five wagons on the trail from Fort Schlosser to 
Fort Niagara was ambushed and almost annihilated by the wily 
Senecas, only three men escaping. A small garrison of two 
companies at Lewiston, hearing the attack, rushed to the 
rescue and was in turn ambushed. All but eight of these were 
killed. When the garrison from Fort Niagara reached the scene, 
the ruins of the train, and some eighty scalped bodies, including 
those of six officers, alone remained. When the Seneca dele- 
gation arrived, Sir William, doubtless bearing this and similar 
events in mind, insisted upon a substantial grant of land. This 
the Senecas promised to give. Soon afterward they reluctantly 
met Sir William Johnson at Fort Niagara and by formal treaty 
the English acquired a strip of land four miles wide on each side 
of the Niagara from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie. This treaty 
was concluded on August sixth, 1764. 

A clause of the treaty granting this land is here inserted, as 
it is of considerable local interest. Parkman's graphic description 
of this gathering of the Indians, in his Conspiracy of Pontine, 
will well repay a perusal, for the concourse comprised not only 
the Senecas but upwards of two thousand other Indians. Some, 



A Brief Sketch of Fort Erie up to i8i^ 9 

even, came from west of the Mississippi. The clause of the 
treaty referred to is as follows: 

"Article Fifth. In addition to the grant made by the 
Chenussio Deputys to His Majesty at Johnson Hall in April of 
the Lands from Fort Niagara to the upper end of the carrying 
place beyond Fort Schlosser and four miles in breadth on each 
side of the River the Chenussios now surrender up all the lands 
from the upper end of the former Grant (and of the same breadth ) 
to the Rapids of Lake Erie to His Majesty for His sole use and 
that of the garrisons but not as private property it being near 
some of their hunting grounds so that all that Tract of the breadth 
before mentioned from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie shall become 
vested in the Crown in manner as before mentioned excepting 
the Islands between the Great Falls and the Rapids which the 
Chenussios bestow upon Sir William Johnson as a proof of their 
regard and of their knowledge of the trouble lie has had with them 
from time to time. All which the Chenussios hope will be accept- 
able to His Majesty and trust that they may have some token of 
his favor." 

Sir William promptly granted to the Crown all his rights in 
the land ceded to him. Porter, in his extremely accurate and 
interesting History of Old Fort Niagara, says : 

" This was the first tract of land in the limits of the present 
Western New York to which the Indian title was absolutely 
extinguished; and this remarkable land deal, so vast in the 
amount of territory involved, so beneficial to the whites in the 
power it gave them for trade and the settlement of the country, 
and of such enormous subsequent value in view of very recent 
developments along this frontier, was closed * * * within the 
historic fortifications of Fort Niagara " 

The ground having been acquired, the post at Fort Erie was 
soon pressed to completion. A wharf was constructed just above 
the rapids, and, no doubt, trade actively commenced with the 



10 The Siege of Fort Erie 

Indians. Marshall, in his article on the Niagara frontier, de- 
scribes the post as located at some distance below the remains 
of the fort now standing. The part facing the river was built of 
stone surrounded by squared pickets, while the balance was 
stockaded. He says: 

"The foundations of the present fort were laid in 1791. It 
must have been a rude fortification as originally constructed, for 
the Duke of Liancourt describes it in 1795 as a cluster of build- 
ings surrounded with rough, crazy palisades destitute of ram- 
parts, covered ways, or earthworks. Outside of the fort were a 
few log houses for the shelter of the officers, soldiers, and work- 
men. There was also a large government warehouse with an 
overhanging story pierced with loopholes for the use of mus- 
ketry. The stone portion, the ruins of which still remain, was 
built in 1806, in the form of a quadrangle, and subsequently 
enlarged to more formidable dimensions. The Indian name of 
the locality, Gai-gwaah-geh, signifies 'The Place of Hats.' Sen- 
eca tradition relates as its origin that in olden times soon after 
the first visit of the white man a battle occurred on the lake 
between a party of French in batteaux and Indians in canoes. 
The latter were victorious and the French boats were sunk and 
the crews drowned. Their hats floated ashore where the fort was 
subsequently built, and, attracting the attention of the Indians 
from their novelty, they called the locality 'The Place of Hats.'". 

Prior to the beginning of this century the route usually trav- 
eled from Niagara Falls to Buffalo Creek was up the present Cana- 
dian side of the river to the Black Rock ferry, where the river was 
crossed near where the ferry now plies. The customary route 
to Detroit was past Fort Erie and along the northern shore of 
Lake Erie. The old fort was built by Bradstreet for the security 
of vessels and to provide a safe place for laying them up in winter, 
as well as for a trading post. Its early history was apparently 
too prosaic to have left any trace in the writings of travelers 
beyond a mere occasional allusion or a meager description. 



A Brief Sketch of Fort Erie tip to 1814. 11 

Christian Schultz, junior, visited Fort Erie in 1807, and 
describes it as a small post garrisoned by twenty-eight men, who 
at that time were employed in building new works. He remarks 
upon the fact that the Americans have no fort or garrison on their 
side, "although there is a most commanding situation for that 
purpose." A few days before Schultz visited the post the 
English had occasion to move one of the guns of the fort. A 
curious Yankee, after having looked into the bore, went to the 
breech, and, sighting along the piece, discovered it was pointing 
directly toward Buffalo. He became enraged, and cursed King 
George, his officers, and his soldiers with all his ability, and 
promised to return the ne.xt day with a party of his " choice 
fellows, and if he found the gun in the same position he would 
hang every mother's son of them without judge or jury." It is 
probable either that the gun was moved or that the Yankee 
failed to keep his promise, for the garrison continued to exist. 

The fort's sole claim to importance consisted in its location 
upon the trail along the northern shore of Lake Erie and in the 
existence of the harbor and the trading place to which it afforded 
protection. At no time in its history was its possession of great 
strategical value either to the English or to the Americans. 



1 2 TJic Siege of Fort Erie 

CHAPTER II. 

before the Invasion. 

Benjamin Franklin once remarked that the war of 1776- 1783 
was the War of the Revolution, but the war of independence still 
remained to be fought. Events during Jefferson's and Madison's 
administrations proved the truth of the remark, for the infant 
nation was vexed and harassed not only by England and Francfe 
but by the pirates of the Mediterranean and the Indians at home 
as well. Through the operation of Orders in Council, and the 
Berlin and Milan Decrees promulgated by both England and 
France, our commerce, just beginning to flourish, was almost 
driven from the seas; thousands of our seamen were compelled 
to serve in British vessels through the infamous practice of 
impressment: our ships were stopped and searched on the high 
seas for alleged British subjects or suspected breaches of neu- 
trality; Indians formerly friendly to us were armed and incited 
to revolt: and these things occurred not once, but many times. 
Indeed, as Madison put it in his communication to Congress of 
June first, 181 2: 

"We behold, in fine, on the side of Great Britain a state of 
war against the United States, and on the side of the United 
States a state of peace toward Great Britain." 

The United States dreaded hostilities, and Madison would 
gladly have avoided them, yet there seemed no alternative if we 
desired to take our place among the nations of the world. Con- 
gress accordingly declared war on June eighteenth, 18 12, and 
the next day it was proclaimed by the president. 

The declaration of war found the country totally unprepared 
for hostilities. Our army consisted of barely six thousand men, 
while our navy was composed of about twenty-five war ships 
carrying three hundred guns, against the thousand war vessels of 



Before the Invasion 1 3 

the British. Not only in men and war ships were we lacking, but 
in munitions of war of every description as well; and to further 
embarrass the administration, both the Federal Party and the New 
England states strongly opposed the war, and mass meetings 
were held and pamphlets continually circulated by the peace 

party. 

The war opened disastrously with the surrender of Detroit 
by Hull, and, as a result, the loss of the territory of Michigan. 
During the years 18 12 and 1813 nearly all the land operations 
displayed the incompetency of American commanders and the 
cowardice of American militia. In short, we were as uniformly 
unsuccessful on land as we were successful on the sea; and no 
part of our territory suffered more severely than the Niagara 
frontier. It is not within the scope of this chapter to recount 
these defeats or dwell upon the victories — few and far between — 
which served to hearten up the people. 



Buffalo, then a village of about one hundred and twenty-five 
houses, was burned by the British and Indians on the thirty-first 
of December, 1813, and the first of January, 1814. Only one 
house, a blacksmith shop, and the jail were left standing. Between 
forty and fifty people of both sexes were killed, stripped to the 
skin, and scalped by the Canadian Indians accompanying the 
column. 

While the burning of Buffalo was contrary to the laws of 
war, it was an act of retaliation for the wanton burning of the 
flourishing village of Newark (now Niagara) situated near Fort 
George in Canada, consisting of one hundred and fifty houses. 
This was done by the Americans under General McClure, who 
acted entirely without orders or any justification or excuse what- 
ever. Doubtless many of the scenes at the burning of Buffalo 
were only repetitions of those at Newark, as each side was assisted 
by a large number of Indians, who at such times were uncontrol- 
lable. The homeless settlers managed to survive the winter 



14 TJie Siege of Fort Erie 

through assistance afforded by the people of the state, who gen- 
erously contributed supplies. Money was voted by the Legis- 
lature and by various cities, amounting in the aggregate to 
upwards of fifty thousand dollars. 

The dreary winter at last came to a close, and things began 
to look brighter. A brickyard was put into operation; building 
was commenced; and, owing to the presence of a considerable 
body of troops quartered at Buffalo, money was quite plentiful. 
Johnson, in his History of Eric Comity, is authority for the state- 
ment that by May twentieth the village boasted three taverns, 
four stores, twelve shops, twenty-three houses, and thirty or forty 
huts, besides many buildings in process of erection. 

Along in June rumors of an invasion of Canada began to be 
current. The force at Buffalo then consisted of two brigades of 
regulars, the First and Second, under General Winfield Scott 
and General Ripley respectively, and a portion of one brigade of 
militia under General Porter, besides about six hundred Senecas. 
The monthly return of General Brown's division for July first, 
1 8 14, was as follows: 



N. 


Present fur 
C. 0. and Men. 


Dutv. 
Officers. 


Agsregate 
Present and Absent. 


Artillery, 


330 


15 


413 


.Scott's Brisjade, 


I,3'2 


65 


2,122 


Ripley's Brigade, 


992 


36 


1,415 


Porter's Brigade, 


710 


43 
159 


830 


Total, 


3>344 


4,780 



A portion of General Porter's brigade did not join him until July 
seventh, after the invasion had begun. 

The whole force numbered about four thousand men effective 
for duty. Considerable attention had been given to disciplining 
and drilling the regulars, until these troops were in a fair state of 
efficiency and eager for an invasion of Canada. As an instance 
of the discipline that prevailed, it is related that four privates 
from the regulars convicted of desertion were shot in the presence 
of General Scott, his staff, and the army, near the present corner 



Before the Invasion 1 5 

of Front Avenue and Maryland Street, in June, 18 14. The 
volunteers, however, were in poor condition for service. On 
many occasions during the war these troops had shown not only 
inefficiency but absolute cowardice. The reason for this is clear 
enough. The militia of that day consisted of men who would 
volunteer only for short terms, and a man who had served five 
or six months was looked upon as a veteran, the average term 
of service being but a few weeks. They were poorly armed, 
equipped, and commanded; and it is no wonder that they were 
content to endure the hardships incident to a soldier's life for 
only a few weeks. 

The late war with Spain has clearly shown how difficult it is 
to supply an army with the thousand and one things it requires, 
although at the present tim.e the resources of this country are 
practically inexhaustible. When the condition of the country 
during the War of 1812 is considered, the statement that the 
volunteers were scantily supplied with equipment will cause no 
astonishment. For instance, on July third, the day Fort Erie 
was captured and the Canadian invasion was begun, Porter's 
brigade had not been issued a rifle, saber, bayonet, or blanket, 
and but a small number of tents. 

The volunteers were green troops, and badly handled; and, 
being jeered at and made a convenience of by the regulars in the 
fatigue work, it is of small wonder that army life was distasteful 
and that poor service resulted. In the training and control of 
these volunteers, General Peter B. Porter, then a Buffalonian, 
showed great ability; and, as he was one of the foremost men of 
this locality — and, indeed, of the state — a gentleman born and 
bred, of fine bearing and courtly manners, he commanded their 
respect and admiration. General Brown, in a letter to Governor 
Tompkins, referring to Porter, only stated a fact when he said, 
" In the midst of the greatest danger I have found his mind cool 
and collected and his judgment to be relied upon." He was full 
of resources and prompt to seize a favorable opportunity to secure 
an advantage, although not bred a soldier. His conduct during 



1 6 The Siege of Fort Erie 

this war was justly recognized by the government, which bre- 
vetted him a Major General; and for his gallantry and bravery 
during the war Congress voted him a gold medal. Volunteer 
crenerals of capacity and aggressiveness even unto this day are 
j'ealous of the regular army officers and a trifle msubordmate. 
Porter appears to have been no exception to the rule, as his let- 
ters to Governor Tompkins disclose, but when it came to a fight 
he loyally supported his superiors and freely exposed his life to 
gain a victory. Under Porter tlie militia stood up against the 
Trained troops of the British like veterans, and at Chippewa, 
Lundy's Lane, and Fort Erie their conduct went far to redeem 
the bad reputation the American militia had acquired during the 
preceding years of the war. 

Porter died at Niagara Falls, aged seventy-one. A beautitul 
monument was erected over his grave, and upon it is engraved 
the following epitaph, which is so apt an estimate of his services 
and character that a portion of it, at least, is well worth quoting. 

PETER BUEL PORTER. 

A pioneer in western New York ; a statesman emi- 
nent in the annals of the nation and the state ; a general 
in the armies of America defending in the hejd what he 
had Maintained in the council.. * *.* Known and 
mourned throughout that extensive region which he had 
been among the foremost to explore and to defend. 

The characters of Brown, Scott, and Ripley are well known. 
Each was uniformly successful. Brown and Scott were brave 
even to recklessness, and ready to fight under any and all circum- 
stances, while Ripley inclined to overcautiousness. 

The monthly return of the regulars for June thirtieth, 1814. 

was as follows: present for Duty. ^ggr^^ate 

N. C. O. and Men. Officers. Present and Absent. 

Scott's Brigade (First). 

Ninth Regiment, 332 iC o4;J 

Eleventh Regiment, 4i6 17 ^i' 

Twenty-second Regiment, 217 12 ^^/ 

Twenty-fifth Regiment, 354 ^^ ^^9 

General staff, _4 ^ 

Total, 1,319 65 2,129 



Before the Iiivasio7i \ j 

Present for Duty. Aggregate 

N. CO. and Men. Officers. Present kncfAbsent. 



Ripley's Brigade (Second). 

Twenty-first Regiment, 651 25 917 

Twenty-third Regiment, 341 8 496 

General staff, 2 2 



Total, 992 35 



Williams's, 62 



1,415 



Artillery ( Major Hindman ). 

Towson's, 89 

Riddle's. 80 104 

Ritchie's, nfi t^^ 

\\r;n; — „,„ Z 'j'-' 



loi 



73 



Total, 327 416 



1 8 The Siege of Fort Erie 

CHAPTER III. 

The Campaign down the Niagara. 

Besides the brilliant incidents in the minor operations of the campaign, the splendid 
victories gained on the Canadian side of the Niagara by the American forces under Major 
General Brown and Brigadiers Scott and Gaines have gained for these heroes and their emu- 
lating companions the most unfading \2i\xre\%.— Madison. 

On the second day of July, 1814, General Brown issued an 
order to his command stating that he was authorized by the 
government to put it in motion against the enemy; and on the 
same day, accompanied by Generals Scott and Ripley, he made a 
careful reconnoissance of Fort Erie to determine upon a plan of 
attack. Fort Erie will be described later on. It is sufficient to 
state here that it was a poorly fortified stone fort defended by a 
small garrison of about one hundred and forty officers and men 
under command of Major Buck of the British army. 

On the third of July, pursuant to the plan agreed upon, 
Scott, with his brigade and some artillery and Indians, crossed 
the river from Black Rock, about a mile below the fort, whilst 
Ripley, with a portion of his brigade, crossed about a mile above. 
Scott reached the fort first (as Ripley from some cause — a fog, 
some authorities say — seems to have been delayed), and alone 
invested the fort at daylight. Scott posted some eighteen- 
pounders within easy range of the fort, and his Indians scoured 
the woods. Ripley soon joined Scott, and the fort was given 
two hours to surrender. Much to the disgust of the British 
commander in chief, the fort capitulated Sunday afternoon, July 
third, 18 14, and the Americans took possession with a loss of only 
four men wounded, the garrison marching out and stacking arms. 
The British appeared to feel its loss keenly. General Drummond, 
writing to Sir George Prevost July tenth, says: 

" I regret exceedingly the loss of this place, which I had the 
strongest hopes would have made an excellent defence, or, at all 
events, held the enemy in check for several days." 



The Campaign dow7i the Niagara 19 

As the British forces were stationed at Chippewa Creek, only 
a day's march away, reinforcements could have reached the fort 
during the night and possibly have outnumbered and routed the 
Americans. In fact, several companies of the Royal Scots were 
marching to the assistance of the fort when the news reached 
them that it had capitulated. In a general order issued by the 
governor in chief of Canada, that official expresses his surprise 
and mortification that the fort surrendered "without having made 
an adequate defence." 

General Brown's forces camped about the fort that night; 
but early the next day, leaving Lieutenant McDonough and a 
small force to garrison the fort. Brown put his army in motion to 
attack the British forces who were encamped near Chippewa 
Creek, eighteen miles away down the Niagara River. By early 
morning of the fifth the American army had taken up position 
in front of the enemy, and on that day the severe engagement of 
Chippewa took place. Both sides claimed a victory in the official 
reports; but the Americans clearly had the best of the battle in 
every respect, and our forces were jubilant over the showing they 
had made against the British regulars. * 

General Brown soon set to work cutting a road through the 
woods to Chippewa Creek, and working parties protected by the 
riflemen and Indians built a bridge across the creek, as the old 
bridge was occupied by the British. The building of the bridge 
enabled Brown to turn the enemy's right flank, which Riall, the 
British commander, was quick to perceive. He, therefore, on 
the eighth of July, retreated to Fort George, at the mouth of the 
Niagara, the American army following and investing the fort. 
Here the Americans remained until July twenty-fifth, when Brown, 
failing to secure the cooperation of the fleet on Lake Ontario, 
and finding his communications threatened, determined to move 
his army against Burlington, where the enemy had troops and 

* " We had never seen those gray jackets before. We supposed it was only a line ot 
militia men, and wondered why yon did hot run at the first fire. We began to doubt when 
we found you stood firmly three or four rounds and when at length in the midst of our battery 
blaze we saw you ' port arms ' and advance upon us we were utterly amazed. It was clear 
enough we had something besides militia men to deal with."— .4 British officer to Douglass. 



20 The Siege of Fort Erie 

stores, first falling back to Chippewa in order to deceive the 
enemy as to his intentions. 

While before Fort George no engagements worth mention- 
ing occurred; but, in accordance, apparently, with the well-settled 
custom at that time, the Americans carried on a predatory war- 
fare against the defenseless noncombatant Canadians. Major 
MacFarland, of the Twenty-third United States Infantry, in a 
letter to his wife, written at the time, says: 

" The [American] militia and Indians plundered and burnt 
everything. The whole population is against us; not a foraging 
party but is fired on, and not infrequently returns with missing 
numbers. This state was to be anticipated. The militia have 
burnt several private dwelling houses and on the 19th inst. burnt 
the village of St. Davids, consisting of 30 or 40 houses. This 
was done within three miles of our camp, and my battalion was 
sent to cover the retreat, as they had been sent to scour the 
country and it was presumed they might be pursued. My God, 
what a service! I never witnessed such a scene, and had not the 
commanding officer of the party, Lieut. Colonel Stone been dis- 
graced and sent out of the army I would have resigned." * 

In short, no one can examine the history of this period witii- 
out coming to the conclusion that the well-recognized laws of war- 
fare were ignored by both sides and that each burned and sacked 
defenseless hamlets almost as often as an opportunity presented 
itself 

On the afternoon of the twenty-fifth of July the movement 
to Chippewa began, General Scott, with the First Brigade and 
the artillery, having the advance. When Scott reached the vicin- 
ity of Niagara Falls he received intelligence that the enemy was 
posted at Lundy's Lane, one half mile west of the falls, and, 
although it was nearly sunset, he resolved to attack at once, which 
he did with great vigor, first sending word back to Brown, who 



* Poor MacFarland fell a few days afterwards at Lundy's Lane. 



The Campaign dozvn the Niagara 2 i 

was with the main body. Scott maintained the contest alone with 
great skill for almost an hour, but after a time Ripley and Porter 
came up with their brigades and the battle became general. 

The story of the fight has been well told by Colonel Cruik- 
shank. As the battle was fought partly in the dark (from six 
o'clock to eleven) many curious mistakes occurred. General 
Riall, accompanied by his staff and preceded by an aide, was 
riding over the field when he came upon a regiment. The aide 
shouted, "Make room there, men, for General Riall." The ranks 
gave way, and the general and his staff started to ride through 
the regiment, when, much to his surprise, he was suddenly seized 
and pulled off his horse. Astonished beyond measure he shouted, 
"What does all this mean?" "You are prisoners, sir," was the 
answer. "But I am General Riall." "There is no doubt of that," 
responded his captor, "and I am Captain Ketchum,of the United 
States army." Seeing that resistance was useless, the general 
was heard to remark sotto I'occ, "Captain Ketchum — Ketchum. 
Well, you have caught us, sure enough." 

Both sides claimed a victory — the British because the Ameri- 
cans retreated from the field of battle, leaving their killed and 
wounded, all the captured guns but one, and many small arms ; 
the Americans because they drove the British from their position 
and held it until it seemed advisable to fall back to their camp, 
two miles away, for supplies and water. Porter, speaking of this 
fight in writing Governor Tompkins, says: 

"Our victory was complete, but, alas, this victory, gained by 
exhibitions of bravery never surpassed in this country, was con- 
verted into a defeat by a precipitate retreat, leaving the dead, the 
wounded, and captured artillery and our hard-earned honor to 
the enemy. I entered my remonstrance against this measure, 
and I confess at the time I almost wished that fate had swept 
another General from the combat.* But it is certain that no 
Militia General is to gain any military fame while united to a 



* Porter would then have succeeded to the command. 



2 2 Tlie Siege of Fort Erie 

regular force and commanded by their officers. * * * j^ 
short, I have been brigadiered until 1 am quite satisfied." 

Colonel Hercules Scott, of the One-hundred-and-third Regi- 
ment, writing to his sister, says: 

"On the 5th of this month a severe action [Chippewa] was 
fought within about five miles of this place, wherein our troops 
were defeated with heavy loss. In the first action I was not 
engaged, but we had another severe one on the 25th, when we 
had ratJicr the advantage." 

A table of the losses at Chippewa and Lundy's Lane will be 
found at the end of this chapter, which will show how desperate 
was the fiehtine. As Generals Brown and Scott were both 
severely wounded, the command devolved upon Ripley, who, 
acting under Brown's directions, withdrew the army to Fort Erie, 
which he reached at eleven o'clock on the night of July twenty- 
sixth. He immediately took up the strongest position possible, 
and awaited the attack he knew was inevitable. 

As an illustration of how severe the losses were at Lundy's 
Lane: Colonel Miller's regiment lost one hundred and twenty-six 
killed, wounded, and missing out of about three hundred men. 
Colonel Miller was the man who, being asked during the battle 
if his regiment (the Twenty-first infantry) could take a certain 
battery made the historic response, " I will try, sir." Listen to 
Miller's report: 

" It was then evening, but moonlight. General Brown turned 
to me, and said: 'Col. Miller, take your regiment and storm that 
work and take it.' I had short of three hundred men with me, 
as my regiment had been much weakened by the numerous 
details made from it during the day. I, however, immediately 
obeyed the order." 

Of the First Brigade, the commander ( Scott), his aide, a staff 
major, and every commander of battalion were either killed or 



The Campaign down the Niagara 23 

wounded. In fact, Scott's brigade was all cut to pieces, and its 
remnants were collected and served during the siege of Fort Erie 
under a lieutenant colonel. 

The following table of losses is interesting: 

Chippewa. 

Killed. Wouiidefl. Missing. Total. 

American, 60 249 19 328 

British, 148 221 46 415 



Lundy's Lane. 

American, lyr 570 117 858 

Britisii, 84 554 235 873* 



* Colonel Scott stated the English loss at 939 killed, wounded, and missing. 



The Beginning of the Siege 25 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Beginning of the Siege. 

As already stated, Fort Erie was constructed by the British 
in 1764, and was intended more as a fortified trading post than a 
fort to withstand a siege. A careful and technical description 
of the fort will be found in Volume II., page 216, of The Histor- 
ical Magazine (third series), to which the reader is referred. 
When captured by us it consisted of two bastions, one on the north 
and the other on the south face of a rectangular stone structure, 
these being connected on the westerly side by a line of pickets, 
an abattis, and a ditch.' Two blockhouses, or mess buildino-s, 
were situated on a continuation of the easterly faces of the bas- 
tions, leaving a space between the blockhouses of barely forty feet. 
This space was fortified by a curtain running from one blockhouse 
to the other, in which was located the main gate of the fort. On 
the easterly side of the fort was a ravelin. The fort was of stone, 
and the construction was too light to resist anything but the field- 
pieces of that period. The woods on the north and west came 
down to within sixty rods of our works; but, save a ravine two 
hundred yards to the north, the terrain was generally level and 
inclined to be swampy. It had been in our possession before 
during the war. On May twenty-sixth, 1813, the commandant 
of the fort, who held the place with some Canadian militia, having 
bombarded Black Rock since the day before, and fearing an 
attack, blew up his magazine, destroyed his supplies, and, after 
dismissing his troops, evacuated the fort, whereupon the Amer- 
icans promptly crossed over the river and took possession of it. 
Subsequent events, however, compelled us in turn to abandon it. 

As previously stated, Lieutenant McDonough and a small 
garrison were left in the fort while Brown was operating down the 
Niagara. This officer worked diligently strengthening the fort 
by deepening the ditches and raising the bastions. He also took 



26 The Siege of Fort Erie 

out the line of pickets on the west flank and began the construc- 
tion of a redoubt to protect the bastions. 

When Ripley reached the fort it was in a very poor condition 
to resist a determined assault; but there were several excellent 
regular army engineers in the army, and the work of fortifying 
the position was entrusted to them. General Ripley took up the 
strongest available position, with his right resting in the fort and 
his left extending nearly parallel to the lake some seven hundred 
yards southerly to a small hillock called Snake Hill, where the 
water line curved in towards the west. This brought our left 
only about fifty yards from the lake. Nature added nothing to 
the strength of the position, and, as its weakness was appreciated, 
strenuous efforts were soon made to strengthen it in every way 
possible. The following improvements were commenced: an 
earthwork from the southerly side of the fort to the hillock on 
our extreme left; an embrasure on the hillock for Towson's 
battery of five guns; two bastions on the west side of the fort; 
embrasures for Riddle's and Fontaine's batteries; an earthwork 
running easterly from the fort towards Niagara River, with an 
embrasure for Douglass's battery on the easterly end;* numerous 
camp traverses; an abattis from the Niagara River on our right, 
extending clear around the works to the river on our left; and the 
completion of the redoubt commenced by McDonough. It will 
be seen that these improvements converted a very weak fort into 
a rather strong position, and the fort changed into a fortified camp 
with the rear open and protected by the Niagara. 

While this work was being vigorously prosecuted, on the 
first of August, Sir Gordon Drummond, who held the rank of 
lieutenant general, appeared before the fort with upwards of four 
thousand men,t drove in the American pickets, and took up a 



♦Lossing states that Douglass's batterv was mounted en barbette in a small stonework, 
but more reliable authorities state that the battery was finally planted in an earthwork like the 
others. It was at first laid en barbette and afterwards changed. 

+ Many of these men were veterans fresh from Wellington's army. After the battle of 
Lundv's Lane Drummond had been reinforced by De VVatteviUe's regiment one thousand or 
twdve hundred strong, recruited in Spain, and composed of Poles, Spaniards, Germans, and 
Portuguese. 



The Beginnmg of the Siege ■ 27 

position on the hills opposite Black Rock. Apparently at this 
time he did not anticipate a very stout resistance from the fort, but 
subsequent events increased his respect for American prowess. 

On the second of August occurred the first clash between 
the opposing forces, and this on American soil, within the present 
Hmits of Buffalo. General Brown had posted some two hundred 
and forty men, composing the First Battalion of the First Regi- 
ment of riflemen under Major Morgan, an extremely capable offi- 
cer, on the American side of the river as a guard to protect Black 
Rock and Buffalo. General Drummond immediately perceived 
that if he could destroy the stores of ordnance and supplies, and 
defeat the militia at Black Rock and Buffalo, it would seriously 
embarass the defenders of Fort Erie, if it did not cause them to 
surrender. He therefore directed Lieutenant Colonel Tucker, 
with a force of six hundred men, to cross the river before day- 
light on the third and carry out the project. 

On the evening of the second Major Morgan observed 
movements of the enemy on the Canadian side of the river which 
led him to suspect he might be attacked. He immediately took 
up a position on the south bank of Scajaquada Creek command- 
ing the bridge, threw up log breastworks, and awaited develop- 
ments. At two o'clock in the morning of the third, Morgan's 
pickets reported Tucker to be crossing the river. Morgan there- 
upon took up a portion of the planks forming the roadway across 
the bridge and awaited the attack. 

Shortly after four that morning Tucker attacked Morgan's 
position, endeavoring to cross the bridge and carry it by assault. 
The British bravely advanced to the attack ; but when the rushing 
column perceived the absence of the roadway of the bridge it 
recoiled, the Americans in the meantime pouring in a withering 
fire, and in the confusion some of the assailants were crowded off 
the bridge into the waters of the creek. The assault failed, but, 
not disheartened, the British endeavored to repair the bridge 
under fire. This attempt also failed, as the bridge was completely 
commanded by the fire of Morgan's men. Retiring, the British 



2 8 The Siege of Fort Erie 

started up a fire at long range, and, detaching a column, endeav- 
ored to ford the creek above the bridge; but Morgan, on the 
alert for such a move, sent sixty men to oppose the movement, 
who completely repulsed the British. Tucker, after consultation 
with his officers, determined to retreat, and thereupon skillfully 
withdrew across the Niagara with his killed and wounded, "ow- 
ing [as he says] to the enemy having destroyed the bridge over 
Conguichity* Creek prior to our arrival at that point, and there 
being no possibility of fording it." Tucker, in his official report, 
attributes the failure of the attack to the cowardice of his men. 
He reports a loss of twelve killed, seventeen wounded, and five 
missing. Our loss was two killed and eight wounded. This 
skirmish greatly encouraged the Americans; and, besides, it 
resulted in an increase of the force at Buffalo, which deterred 
Drummond from making another attempt. This skirmish was 
afterwards known as the Battle of Conjockety,and Morgan as the 
" hero of Conjockety." 

Drummond, always prone to find fault, issued an order 
publicly censuring the troops for their cowardice. The following 
is an extract from the order: 

" The indignation excited in the mind of the Lieut.-General 
from discovering that the failure of an expedition the success of 
which by destroying the enemy's means of subsistence would 
have compelled his force on this side to have surrendered to the 
troops by which he is invested or by risquing an action with the 
Lieut.-General in the field to have met certain defeat has been 
solely caused by the misbehavior of the troops employed on this 
honorable service will not permit him to expatiate on a subject 
so unmilitary and disgraceful. * * * To the troops most, 
particularly alluded to it is the Lieut-General's determination to 
afford an immediate opportunity of at once effacing from his mind 
the impression which the report of the officers and his own 
observation have produced and of averting that report of their 



* That is, Conjockety. 



The Beginning of the Siege 29 

conduct which he shall feel it his indispensable and imperious 
duty to lay at the feet of his sovereign. 

" Crouching, ducking, or laying down when advancing under 
fire are bad habits and must be corrected." 

If Drummond had taken Buffalo the American base of com- 
munications would have been cut off and our army compelled 
to evacuate the fort at once. If Drummond laid so much impor- 
tance to this skirmish it is difficult to see why he did not attempt 
the movement later on with a larger force, to which the Americans 
could have made little, if any, resistance. The American army 
would have then been placed in a serious predicament. 

On the day this fight occurred General Drummond pushed 
forward a brigade to the edge of the woods surrounding Fort 
Erie, and, making a careful reconnoissance of the position, decided 
after " mature consideration " not to assault until after the guns 
of heavy caliber he had sent for from Fort George were mounted 
and had made a breach in the walls. In coming to this decision, 
Drummond made his first serious mistake, which the Americans 
hailed with considerable satisfaction. The works were weak and ill 
fitted to stand the determined assault Drummond's veterans were 
capable of making, and which they afterward made; and each day 
was improved by our forces in putting them into better condition. 
Never was delay more fatal to the success of a movement. 

An assault was not made until the fifteenth of August, when 
all the batteries were in position; but at this time (August 
fourth) Towson's battery, on our left, which gave the British the 
most trouble during the assault, was not planted, which would 
have rendered our left easily flanked and turned. This battery 
was not completed until the tenth. The mistake was most serious. 
The Americans, although somewhat surprised, immediately laid 
aside their muskets and went to work with their spades; and, 
although the proposed improvements had not all been made by 
August fifteenth, the defenses were soon in a tolerable condition 
to resist an attack. 



30 The Siege of Fort Erie 

Brown, it appears, was not satisfied with Ripley's conduct 
during his term of command after Lundy's Lane. One reason 
for Brown's complaint was that he claims to have ordered Ripley 
to retake possession of the battlefield of Lundy's Lane early in 
the morning following the battle, and that Ripley failed to carry 
out the order. In any event. Brown and Scott both being dis- 
abled by wounds, Major General Edmund P. Gaines was sent 
for to come on from Sackett's Harbor. He arrived on August 
fourth, and at once assumed command. Although General Rip- 
ley was superseded, he appears to have always conducted himself 
with conspicuous gallantry, and led his troops with more than 
ordinary ability. He was a loyal, brave man. Gaines at this time 
was thirty-seven years old, and a man of fine presence. His 
high reputation had preceded him, and his arrival at Fort Erie 
caused great enthusiasm in the little army. He was a soldier by 
profession, and had worked his way from a lieutenancy through 
the various grades to that of a brigadier generalship in the reg- 
ular army. He was brevetted a major general, and received a gold 
medal and the thanks of Congress for his services and bravery 
at Fort Erie; and, in addition to these honors, three states pre- 
sented him with swords. He died at New Orleans, at the age 
of seventy-two. 

While the Americans were engaged in strengthening their 
works, the British were not idle. Parallel lines of earthworks 
and abattis were constructed northwesterly from Fort Erie, the 
nearest of which was about five hundred yards away, running 
from the river almost due west for one thousand yards. Two 
blockhouses were built and embrasures constructed for two bat- 
teries — Number One situated near the river, nearly a thousand 
yards from our works, and Number Two situated about two 
hundred and fifty yards nearer the fort and about two hundred 
yards from the river.* It took some time to complete them, 
Battery Number Two not opening fire until August nineteenth, 
or even later. It consisted of two long eighteen-pounders, one 

*The location of these batteries is shown upon the map on page 24. 



The Beginfiiiig of the Siege 3 1 

twenty-four-pound carronade, and an eight-inch howitzer. These 
batteries were planted in the woods, and when completed ave- 
nues were cut through the trees to admit of their playing upon 
our lines; but, owing to the construction of the artillery of that 
day, it was soon found that both batteries were laid too far away 
to admit of their doing very effective execution. It was thought 
when they were erected they would soon batter down the fort, 
because they took our works in reverse, but throughout the 
whole siege they did comparatively little mischief The British 
had their camp at Waterloo, nearly two miles from their lines, 
one brigade being constantly on duty at the front. 

The map found at the front of this sketch, to which the 
attention of the reader is called, will make clear the relative posi- 
tions of the two armies. 

The British army consisted of upwards of four thousand, 
while our forces at first did not exceed two thousand eight hun- 
dred. On August first, Lieutenant Douglass fired one of his 
pieces at an advance party of the enemy, and on the second some 
American soldiers, without orders, fired a cannon at the British; 
but neither side really opened fire with any energy until August 
seventh, when the British opened with all their available guns. 
The Americans displayed their colors from every staff; the field 
music and regimental bands struck up Yankee Doodle; and amid 
the cheers of the garrison the fire was returned with spirit, if not 
with effect. The cannonading continued with only slight inter- 
missions until August fifteenth. Up to this time skirmishing 
was daily going on between the lines, in which many more were 
killed and wounded than the importance of the results accom- 
plished by the movements seem to justify. On the twelfth of 
August, in a skirmish. Major Morgan, the "hero of Conjockety " 
was killed — a loss which our army felt severely. General Drum- 
mond, in a letter to Sir George Prevost, dated August twelfth, 
not only refers to this skirmishing, but makes a statement very 
significant of the mode of warfare then apparently regarded as 
entirely proper. He says: 



32 The Siege of Fort Erie 

"The enemy makes daily efforts with his riflemen to dislodge 
our advanced picquets and to obtain a reconnoissance of what 
we are doing. These attacks, tho' feeble and invariably repulsed, 
yet harass our troops and occasion us some loss. I enclose 
returns of those of the loth and of this day. Your Excellency 
will observe with concern that on both occasions we have lost an 
officer killed. I am happy to report that on every occasion the 
troops show great steadiness and invariably inflict a loss on the 
enemy more considerable than their own. The Indians went 
forward with great spirit the day before yesterday, and in the 
affair of this day it has just been reported to me they surprised, 
took, and scalped every man of one of the enemy s picquets." 

This last sentence is italicized, not to emphasize how de- 
praved the British were, but to show the mode of warfare of the 
period. 

The almost incessant fire of the enemy greatly annoyed the 
garrison, and more especially the parties told off to work on the 
fortifications, although great pains were taken to protect them. 
Notwithstanding the precautions used, it was a not infrequent 
occurrence for a shot to strike amongst a party with great effect. 
The enemy elevated their pieces, and by using small charges of 
powder dropped shells and round shot into the fort from such 
an elevation that the traverses were of little protection. For 
instance: a sergeant was being shaved in a spot protected by the 
traverse, when both his head and the hand of the barber were 
taken off by a single shot. Such casualties happened altogether 
too frequently for the peace of mind of the little army, although 
the men soon became somewhat accustomed to the danger. 

On the twelfth of August the Americans opened on the 
British with a battery situated at Black Rock, almost the first 
discharge wounding a sergeant and five men. This fire annoyed 
the enemy considerably during the siege, and compelled them to 
construct numerous camp traverses to protect themselves from 
the flank fire. 



The Beginnmg of the Siege '^'^ 

Three armed American schooners of small tonnage, formerly 
belonging to Perry's fleet, were anchored off the fort, and by a 
flank fire added greatly to the strength of our position. Captain 
Dobbs, of the Royal Navy, conceived the idea of embarking a 
force in small boats, and, by representing them to be provision 
boats from Fort Erie, to board and capture the schooners. 
Accordingly, on the night of the twelfth, with a party of seventy 
sailors and marines, Dobbs, under cover of the darkness, suc- 
ceeded, with small loss, in capturing the Ohio and the Somers, 
the Porcupine, the third schooner, escaping. These schooners 
mounted three long twelve-pounders, and carried thirty-five men 
each. The loss to us, while not very severe, was considerable. 

Colonel Hercules Scott, in a letter to his brother dated 
August twelfth, a part of which was written August fourteenth, 
says : 

"Since writing the above our battery (No. i) has opened 
against the Fort and continued the whole of yesterday without 
having the smallest effect. It is at much too great a distance. I 
expect we shall be ordered to storm tomorrow. I have little hope 
of success from this manoeuvre. I shall probably write you more, 
that is, if I get over this present business." 

Colonel Scott fell August fifteenth at the head of his regiment. 



34 The Siege of Fort Erie 

CHAPTER V. 

The Attack on tlie Fort. 

" The attack on this place was perhaps the most gallant of the ^^;_l^'^e wan''^^ 

The narrative now reaches a point where the first hard fight- 
ing occurred. General Drummond, having made several careful 
reconnoissances of the American position, came to the conclusion 
it could be carried by assault. Our works did present several vul- 
nerable places ; for, notwithstanding the great efforts made by the 
Americans during the past fortnight, the abattis was weak, and 
openings existed beween Douglass's battery and the river on 
our right and between the fort and the breastworks runnmg east- 
erly to the river. Our left Drummond also considered somewhat 
weak, but subsequent events proved otherwise. It may be well 
at this point to again recur to our position and see how our 
forces were disposed. It will be remembered that Douglass's 
batterv, consisting of a six-pounder and an eighteen-pounder, was 
situated on our extreme right and rear; that Towson's battery 
of six guns, all fieldpieces, occupied Snake Hill on our extreme 
left, and was elevated some twenty feet, so as to completely com- 
mand the esplanade; that Fontaine's, afterwards Tanning's, battery 
of two guns was planted near the fort at the northerly end of 
the breastwork, while Biddle's battery of three guns was posted 
on the breastwork about two hundred and fifty yards fi'om the 
fort The fort mounted a twenty-four-pounder, an eighteen- 
pounder, and a twelve-pounder. The artillery was all under the 
command of Major Hindman, of the regulars, and apparently was 
handled with great skill. Parts of the Eleventh, Ninth, and 
Twenty-second regiments of regulars, under command of Lieu- 
tenant Colonel Aspinwall, were posted on our right; Porter, with 
his militia and the First and Fourth regiments of riflemen held 
the center; while on the left General Ripley was posted with the 



The Attack on the Fort 35 

Twenty-first and Twenty-third regulars. Fort Erie was defended 
by the Nineteenth United States Infantry under Captain WilHams. 

General Drummond, having determined to assault on the 
fifteenth of August, decided to pave the way by a vigorous can- 
nonading, which he began at sunrise on the thirteenth and con- 
tinued until eight o'clock in the evening of that day. He resumed 
firing on the fourteenth at daybreak, and it was then continued 
without intermission up to an hour before the time the assault 
was made. We returned the fire briskly a portion of the time. 
During this period we lost ten killed and thirty-five wounded, 
and our troops were greatly annoyed by the incessant fire. The 
works, however, were not seriously damaged, although Drum- 
mond reported that "the stone building had been much injured 
and the general outline of the parapet and embrasures very much 
altered." 

General Drummond carefully planned his attack. His 
" arrangement " is here set out in full, because, as he engaged all 
his organizations, it will show the different ones that composed 
his army, as well as the disposition of his troops. 

(secret.) 

" Headquarters, 
"Camp before Fort Erie, 14th Aug., 1814. 

Arrangement. 

"Right Colnnin — Lt.-Col. FiscJicr : 

King's Regiment. 

Volunteers — Regt. De Watteville. 

Light Companies — 89th and looth Regts. 

Detachment Royal Artillery, one officer and 12 men and a 
rocketeer with a couple of 12-pound rockets. 

Capt. Eustace's picquet of cavalry. 

Capt. Powell, Deputy- Asst.-Quartermaster General will con- 
duct this column, which is to attack the left of the enemy's position. 



36 TJic Siege of Fort Erie 

''Centre Column — Lt.-Col. Dninunond: 

Flank Companies — 41st Regiment. 

do, do. 104th do. 

Royal Marines — 50. 
Seamen — 90. 

Detachment Royal Artillery, one subaltern and 12 men. 
Capt. Barney, 89th Regt., will guide this column, which is 
to attack the fort. 

"Left Column — Col. Scott, lojd Regt.: 

103d Regt. 

Capt. Elliott, Deputy-Asst.-Quartermaster-General, will con- 
duct this column, which will attack the right of the enemy's 
position towards the lake, and endeavor to penetrate by the 
opening between the fort and the entrenchment, using the short 
ladders at the same time to pass the entrenchment which is 
reported to be defended only by the enemy's 9th Regt., 250 
strong. 

"The infantry picquets on Buck's road to be pushed on with 
the Indians to attack the enemy's picquets on that road. 
Lt.-Col. Nichols, Quartermaster-General of Militia, will conduct 
this column. 

"The rest of the troops, viz.: 
1st Battalion Royals, 
Remainder of De Watteville's Regt., 
Glengarry Light Infantry and Incorporated Militia, 
will remain in reserve under Lt.-Col. Tucker and are to be posted 
on the ground at present occupied by our picquets and covering 
parties. 

"Squadron of 19th Dragoons in rear of the battery nearest 
to the advance, ready to receive charge of prisoners and conduct 
them to the rear. 

"The Lieut-General will station himself at or near the bat- 
tery, where reports are to be made to him. 



The Attack on the Fort 2)1 

"Lt.-Col. Fischer, commanding the right column, will follow 
the instructions he has received, copy of which is communicated 
to Col. Scott and Lt.-Col. Drummond for their guidance. 

"The Lieut. -General most strongty recommends a free use of 
the bayonet. The enemy's force does not exceed 1500 fit for 
duty, and those are represented as much dispirited. 

"The ground on which the columns of attack are to be 
formed will be pointed out, and the orders for their guidance 
will be given by the Lieut. -General commanding. 

"J. HARVEY, 

"D. A. G." 

As nearly as can be estimated these columns were of the 
following strength ; 



Fischer's column, 


1,100 


Driimmond's column, 


700 


Scott's column. 


750 



2,550 

Most careful and explicit written instructions were issued to 
Lieutenant Colonel Fischer,directing how the details of the assault 
on our left should be carried out, and copies of these were given 
Colonels Drummond and Scott, the leaders of the other columns. 
Fischer was directed to move out from his camp before dark on the 
fourteenth and take up a position in the woods as close to our left 
as possible, exercising the greatest care that the enemy be not 
advised of his presence through deserters. Loud talking was 
forbidden; no fires were to be lit; and hourly roll calls were directed 
to be held. The American troops were thought by the British 
to be " diminished and dispirited," and possibly this fact caused 
Drummond to make another curious but serious mistake. In 
Fischer's letter of instructions from Drummond he is directed to 
have his men (except the reserve) remove the flints from their 
muskets to obviate any chance of their firing prematurely and " to 
insure secrecy." His order says : 



38 The Siege of Fort Erie 

" The advantages which will arise from taking out the flints 
are obvious. Combined with darkness and silence, it will effec- 
tually conceal the situation and number of our troops ; and those 
of the enemy being exposed by his fire and his white trousers, 
which are very conspicuous marks to our view, it will enable 
them to use the bayonet with effect, which that valuable weapon 
has been ever found to possess in the hands of British soldiers." 

These instructions in respect to the flints also applied to the 
other columns. 

So much for the plan. 

While the American troops were engaged in the usual 
evening parade on the fourteenth, a shell from the enemy struck 
within the fort and exploded a small magazine, which blew up 
with a tremendous report heard for miles. The English, thinking 
the shell had done serious damage, set up a " loud and joyous 
shout," which the Americans were not slow to answer by 
hearty cheers ; and the gallant Captain Williams, killed a few 
hours afterwards, before the smoke of the explosion had lifted, 
renewed the cannonading from the largest gun within the fort. 

Gaines during the past few days had observed several things 
which made it clear to him an assault was imminent, and thinking 
the explosion of the magazine might encourage the enemy to 
make it that night took every precaution to insure a successful 
defense. One third of the garrison was kept on duty, and the 
balance lay down on their arms ready to fall in at a minute's 
notice. Lighted dark lanterns were placed at the guns ; bags of 
canister were hung within easy reach ; and the guns were charged 
afresh. Before turning in, Gaines, accompanied by his engineers, 
went carefully over the works, spoke a word of encouragement to 
the men, and saw that his command was prepared to make a 
prompt and stout defense. When McRea, the chief engineer, 
visited Douglass, he told him if the threatened attack did come 
he could rely upon it his battery would be one of the points 
assailed. Douglass relates how bags of musket balls suited to the 



The Attack on the Fort ' 39 

caliber of his guns were hung beside each piece, how linstocks 
were placed where they could be easily reached and dark lanterns 
lit, and how the guns were charged so heavily with grape shot 
that the last wad could be touched with the hand. The gun 
crews lay on the platforms ready to leap to the guns at the first 
alarm, which all felt sure would soon come. The garrison had 
not the slightest intimation of an attack, so far as the English 
could observe. The timely precautions so wisely taken by Gaines 
undoubtedly saved the day for the Americans. 

The night was pitch dark, and during the fore part of the 
evening rain had been falling. A picket of one hundred men 
under Lieutenant Belknap of the Twenty-third Infantry, along 
about two in the morning of the fifteenth heard suspicious sounds 
coming from the direction the enemy would naturally advance. 
Not wishing to alarm the garrison needlessly, he waited until he 
was sure a column ( Fischer's ) was approaching, when he fired a 
volley and slowly retreated upon the fort firing as he came. He 
gallantly kept the enemy in check for a short time, which was of 
great value to our forces; and as he brought up the rear he re- 
ceived a severe bayonet wound just as he was about to enter the 
fort, so close did the enemy's advance press him. The objective 
of Fischer's attack was the space between our left and the river ; 
but the enemy carried scaling ladders and were prepared to mount 
our works wherever opportunity offered. But instead of over- 
powering the small interior guard and bayoneting the sleepy 
occupants of the garrison before a resolute defense could be made, 
as the British hoped to do, they found they were confronted with 
an entirely different situation. No sooner was the first shot heard 
than the officers ran down the lines of tents crying " To arms ! to 
arms ! " The reserves, all dressed and ready for the fight, ran to 
the parapets to assist their comrades, while the trained gun crews 
leaped to their pieces and freshly primed them ; and while some 
of the crew held their hands over the priming to protect it from 
the dampness others grasped the linstocks, opened the dark lan- 
terns, and lit the slow matches, all in less time than it takes to tell 



40 The Siege of Fort Erie 

it. The silent infantry lined the parapets and peered into the 
darkness eager for the fight to commence and the period of sus- 
pense to be over. Gaines says in his official report : 

" The night was dark and the early part of it raining but the 
faithfidsetiiinelsXe^i not. One third of the troops were up at their 
posts. At half past two o'clock the right column of the enemy 
approached and though enveloped in darkness black as his designs 
and principles was distinctly heard on our left and promptly 
marked by our musketry under Major Wood and artillery under 
Captain Towson." 

As soon as the approaching British were faintly discerned 
through the darkness, Towson's battery and the Twenty-first and 
Twenty-third infantry opened with a tremendous crash, lighting 
up the night with the glare of the fire. Towson's battery, for its 
work that night, received the nickname of " Towson's lighthouse." 
The enemy bravely stood the fire and advanced to within a few 
feet of our lines before recoiling. A portion of his forces, by 
wading breast-deep in the river, succeeded in passing around the 
abattis and were about to attack our position from the rear, when 
two companies of the Twenty-first Regiment, posted to meet such 
an emergency, rushed up and opened so deadly a fire that very 
few of the enemy escaped. Many were carried dead or wounded 
down the river by the swift current. Again and again the enemy 
gallantly assaulted, and as often were they repulsed with great 
loss by the battery and musketry fire. Five distinct assaults were 
made. Disheartened and worn out, the shattered column finally 
withdrew, leaving their dead upon the field and one hundred and 
forty-seven prisoners in our hands. No further attempt was made 
to assault our left, and the attack of the largest column of the 
enemy and the one upon which General Drummond relied to 
accomplish the most important results had utterly failed, notwith- 
standing the bravery it displayed. 

When Lieutenant Colonel Drummond and Colonel Scott 
heard the attack of Fischer in progress they put their columns 



The Attack on the Fort 41 

in motion, and, pursuant to the instructions, Drummond directed 
his forces against the fort, while Scott, proceeding south along 
the river, attacked Douglass's battery and the earthwork on that 
side. Colonel Scott, with the One-hundred-and-third Regiment, 
advanced bravely to the attack. He was met by the fire of the 
Ninth Regiment and two companies of volunteers (Broughton's 
and Harding's), besides the volleys of canister from Douglass's 
battery and a six-pounder posted between the battery and the 
river and commanded by Major McRea of the engineers. Even 
the One-hundred-and-third, veterans of many a hard-fought 
field, could not make headway against such a fire, and when 
about fifty yards away the column was seen by the anxious 
watchers in the fort to first hesitate, then waver, and then retreat 
in confusion, leaving many dead and wounded. So intense was 
the fire that one of the garrison compared the roar of the artillery 
and the musketry fire to the close double drag of a drum on a 
grand scale. About the time Scott's column fell back, loud cries 
to cease firing were heard, coming apparently from the fort. 
Douglass, supposing the order came from our officers, ceased 
working his guns, but seeing Scott's column again preparing to 
rush to the assault, and suspecting a ruse de guerre, immediately 
reopened fire and again repulsed the assault.* Brackenridge is 
responsible for the statement that the One-hundred-and-third 
Regiment left one third of its number upon the field, including its 
brave colonel, who, while leading the charge, was shot through 
the head.f No further attack was made at this point, although 
most of the attacking force afterwards mingled with Drummond's 
column and assisted it in the assault on the bastion. 

Two of the three columns had utterly failed to effect a 
lodgment in the works. The third was more successful. Lieu- 
tenant Colonel Drummond, the commander chosen to lead the 
troops against the fort, was a professional soldier of great bravery 



* Douglass says he heard a voice cry in a foreign accent, " Cease firing ; you're firing 
upon your own men," and immediately after a stentorian Yankee voice angrily yelled from 
the fort, "Go to hell! Fire away there! why don't you?" He claims his fire had not 
ceased, but that that of the infantry, or, at least, a part of it, had. 

fThe British accounts say that Scott was killed within the fort. 



42 The Siege of Fort Erie 

and possessed of that stubbornness so characteristic of the 
British soldier — a quality which renders him incapable of appre- 
ciating when he is beaten. A Spanish report of an engagement 
during the late war describes the Americans as still pressing 
forward, notwithstanding the fact that they were already defeated 
by the well-directed fire of the Spaniards. Colonel Drummond 
was a fighter of this description. While Fischer and Scott were 
enofaeine the left and the rigrht, Lieutenant Colonel Drummond. 
with the force described in the order ( consisting of about seven 
hundred men), assaulted the center with an almost irresistible 
impetuosity. He was, however, beaten back by the men of the 
Nineteenth Regiment and by the artillery fire. Again and again, 
rallying his men, he returned to the attack, only to be repulsed. 
Finally, owing to the dense cloud of smoke from the guns and to 
the darkness of the night (for the day was only just about to dawn), 
with some men belonging to the Royal Artillery, he crept along 
the ditch of the fort, and, planting scaling ladders, with which his 
column was provided, climbed into the northern bastion, closely 
followed by many of the attacking party, before the Americans 
realized what had happened. Bayoneting the defenders of the 
bastion, they seized the guns and turned them against the fort. 

Among the artillerists defending the bastion was Lieutenant 
McDonough, who, it will be remembered, was left in charge of 
the fort during Brown's campaign down the Niagara. As he was 
severely wounded by a bayonet thrust he asked for quarter. 
Gaines, in his official report, thus describes the scene: 

"Lieut. McDonough, being severely wounded, demanded 
quarter; it was refused by Col. Drummond. The Lieutenant 
then seized a handspike and nobly defended himself until he was 
shot down with a pistol by the monster who had refused him 
quarter, who often reiterated the order ' Give the damned Yankees 
no quarter.' " 

Colonel Drummond was shot through the heart and bayon- 
eted a few moments afterwards. He immediately expired. His 



The Attack oil the Fort 43 

body was blown up when the explosion of the bastion occurred, 
but when his remains were afterwards searched, a copy of General 
Drummond's order, directing the assault, was found, and it was 
observed that the bayonet, in entering his body, had passed 
through that portion of the order wherein General Drummond 
" recommends a free use of the bayonet." 

Near the bastion stood a stone blockhouse, which was 
manned by the Americans, and an attempt made to drive the 
British from the bastion ; but they evinced no disposition to retire 
from their hard-won position, and the fight waged furiously. 

About two hours and a half had elapsed since the attack 
first developed, and it was now daylight. This enabled our 
batteries, especially Fanning's,* to keep reinforcements from 
reaching the British, as the guns now swept the unobstructed 
clearing in front of the fort, while all the other pieces were 
trained upon the captured bastion. Gaines called upon Ripley 
and Porter for reinforcements, who promptly sent them, and a 
determined assault was made upon the bastion. Owing, how- 
ever, to the narrowness of the passage leading up to it ( only 
two or three men being able to charge abreast), our forces were 
repulsed; but the Americans, nothing daunted, charged again 
and again with no success beyond wearing down the enemy. 

While the officers were forming our men for another assault 
an event happened which had a decisive bearing upon the assault 
and which was as unexpected as it was fortunate for our arms. 
Underneath the platform of the captured bastion was stored a 
large quantity of cartridges and ammunition of various sorts. 
Suddenly, and from some cause never ascertained, a tremendous 
explosion, heard for miles around, occurred, which blew the bas- 
tion, with the men and guns upon it, high into the air. The bastion 
was crowded principally with men from the One-hundred-and- 
third Regiment ( Scott's ), and the explosion was of so much force 
that this regiment was literally blown to pieces. The cries of the 
wounded, the loud report, the enormous clouds of dust, the dis- 

* Fanning outranked Fontaine, and so now was in command of the battery named after 
the latter. 



44 The Siege of Fort Erie 

tance objects were thrown, and the suddenness with which so 
many brave men were blown to eternity or terribly mangled made 
a profound impression upon the spectators. Its cause was long 
a matter of speculation and wonderment, not only along the fron- 
tier, but throughout the country as well. Lieutenant Douglass 
graphically describes the explosion in the following language : 

"Every sound was hushed by the sense of an unnatural 
tremor beneath our feet like the first heave of an earthquake. 
Almost at the same instant the center of the bastion blew up with 
a terrific explosion and a jet of flame mingled with fragments of 
timber, earth, stone, and bodies of men rose to the height of one 
or two hundred feet in the air and fell in a shower of ruins to a 
great distance all around." 

Panic seized the uninjured, and after a few minutes the sur- 
viving remnant of the British force retired to their intrenchments 
under a heavy fire from the fort, protected by a battalion of the 
King's Royals, which was pushed forward by General Drummond 
to cover the retreat. 

The battle was over, and the daylight revealed the dismantled 
bastion still smoking from the effects of the explosion. In front 
of our position, and especially the bastion, the ground was piled 
with the dead and wounded, many terribly mangled and muti- 
lated by the explosion. The garrison immediately set to work 
to care for the wounded and to bury the dead.* 

During the attack the people of Black Rock and Buffalo had 
listened to the sounds of the combat, which drifted across the 
river, and had watched the discharge of the pieces, fearing lest our 
army would be overpowered and that there would be a repetition 
of the horrible events of the preceding New Year's Day. When 
the bastion blew up they were filled with dismay, for it was 
thought it meant either an abandonment of the fort or its capture 
by the British. But at last, with daylight, came a rowboat from 

* Long trenches were dug near the fort, and forty or fifty men were buried in each trench 
The prisoners and wounded were taken across the river to Buffalo, ' 



The Attack oil the Fort 45 

the fort, which conveyed the news of the victory to the anxious 
watchers. It was received with great rejoicing, and spread 
throughout the country with rapidity, for it was the most decisive 
victory of the war up to that time. 



46 The Siege of Foi^t Erie 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Period between the Assault and the Sortie. 

Another of our annoyances was from the bombshells. These could be avoided without 
much difficulty if one had time to attend to them, * * * but this could not always be 
done. — Douglass. 

When the smoke of battle had cleared away and each side 
had taken a check roll call, it was found that for a " diminished 
and dispirited force," the Americans had done exceedingly well. 
The Americans lost two captains, one lieutenant, six subalterns, 
two sergeants, one corporal, and seventy-two privates killed, 
wounded, and missing. Seventeen were killed. The total loss of 
the British was nine hundred and five, according to their official 
report, but, judging from the men left upon the field and from un- 
official accounts, it was probably over one thousand, of whom 
about forty were officers. Drummond's official return apparently 
does not include the loss in De Watteville's regiment, which must 
have been quite severe. Drummond frankly states in his report 
that many of the missing were probably killed in the explosion 
of the bastion. 

The blowing up of the bastion has been attributed to many 
different causes. The following are among those assigned: 

L Drummond states that ammunition under the platform 
of the bastion caught fire owing to the fact that the guns in the 
bastion were fired to the rear. 

II. Lieutenant MacMahon, in a private letter to a friend, 
written on the twenty-second of August, says: 

" It [the ammunition] was not, however, intentionally placed 
there for the purpose, but, seeing the opportunity, and availing 
himself of it, a corporal of American artillery, having got on a 
red coat and the cap of a British deserter, and while it was scarce 
daylight, got in amongst our men, who were principally in and 
near this bastion, and appeared to make himself very busy in 



The Period between the Assault and the Sortie 47 

working the gun which by this time had been turned against the 
enemy, and in the bustle he got under the platform and effected 
his purpose by a slow match. He had but just time himself to 
slink off and get behind a stone building in the fort when this 
unfortunate explosion took place, which has left the One-hundred- 
and-third Regiment, who were principally at that point, but a 
mere skeleton." 

III. Lossing, in his Field Book of the War of 18 12, relates 
the following, which shows the power of imagination of the pri- 
vate soldier, the most unreliable chronicler in the world: 

"The venerable Jabez Fisk, now (1867) living near Adrian, 
Michigan, who was in the fight, is not so reticent concerning the 
explosion. In a letter to me dated May 20, 1863, he writes: 
' Three or four hundred of the enemy had got into the bastion. 
At this time an American officer came running up and said, 
' General Gaines, the bastion is full. I can blow them all to hell 
in a minute.' They both passed back through a stone building 
and in a short time the bastion and the British were high in the 
air. General Gaines soon returned, swinging his hat and shout- 
ing, ' Hurrah for Little York!' This was in allusion to the 
blowing up of the British magazine at Little York, where General 
Pike was killed." 

IV. A more romantic version, which gained considerable 
credence at the time, was that the dying McDonough, determining 
to sell his life as dearly as possible, threw a light into an ammu- 
nition chest and so caused the explosion. 

V. In the haste with which the guns were served, a cart- 
ridge was accidentally broken, and the powder, scattering on the 
platform, formed a train from it to the magazine, which, being 
ignited, caused the explosion. 

VI. The explosion was caused by an American shell. 

So many causes are here assigned that the reader will 
doubtless find no difficulty in making a satisfactory choice, for 
each has this merit — it cannot be successfully controverted. 



48 The Siege of Fort Erie 

The British had made a most gallant assault, and done all 
that could be expected of flesh and blood. Not only failing to 
carry the fort, but suffering a most severe loss, the soldiers gave 
way to great depression. Upon retiring, they lined their intrench- 
ments, prepared to resist a counter attack, but none came, and 
the caring for the dead and wounded occupied the balance of the 
day. A force of less than four thousand men had lost about one 
thousand in killed, wounded, and missing — more than one fourth, 
— and in Colonels Drummond and Scott's columns the loss was 
even heavier. For instance, Scott's regiment, the One-hundred- 
and-third, lost three hundred and seventy men, and out of eighteen 
officers fourteen were killed or wounded. In fact, some of the 
organizations were practically destroyed. Doctor Young, an 
English surgeon, in a private letter to Colonel Scott's brother, 
informing him of the colonel's death, writes that Scott was buried 
on the evening of the fifteenth, and that the funeral was attended 
by only three officers and himself, ''the zvliole that remained 
untouched after the attacks 

The following pathetic extract seems worthy of quoting to 
show how dispirited even the officers were after the assault had 
failed. It is from a letter written by Colonel J. Le Couteur to 
his brother, and is dated July twenty-ninth, i8 — . 

" After we were blown up, some three or four hundred men 
by the springing of the mine or magazine in Fort Erie, on recov- 
ering my senses from being blown off the parapet some twenty 
feet into the ditch which was filled with burned and maimed men 
the Yankees relined their works and fired heavily into the ditch. 
My colonel, Drummond of Keltic, had commanded the right 
attack. Col. Scott the left attack. Finding that the ditch was 
not to be held under such disarray and such a fire, several of us 
jumped over the scarp and ran over the plain to our lines. Lieut. 
Fallon of the 103d, who was desperately wounded, was caught by 
his sling belt in a log and thought to die there; however, I 
said to my grenadier friend: 'Jack, my boy, put your arm over 



The Period between the Assault and the Sortie 49 

my neck and I will take you round the waist and run you into 
the lines.' The Yankees were then pelting us with grape and 
musketry. As we jogged on I saw an officer carried on his back 
in some sort of a stretcher and I said to the four men, 'Who is 
that officer?' 'Col. Scott, sir, shot through the head,' where I 
saw the bullet mark in the noble man's forehead. When I got 
my friend into the lines, regardless of who was by, in a fit of sor- 
row I threw my sabre down exclaiming, 'This is a disgraceful 
day for Old England ! ' Col. M — , who heard me, said, ' For shame, 
Mr. Le Couteur! The men are sufficiently discouraged by 
defeat' Col. Pearson said, ' Don't blame him. It is the high 
feeling of a young soldier.' To my surprise the Commander-in- 
chief, Sir Gordon Drummond, had heard all this as he was close 
behind and he asked me, 'Where is Col. Scott? ' 'Oh! Sir! He 
is killed, just being brought in by his men.' 'Where is Col. 
Drummond?' 'Alas! Sir! He is killed too. Bayonetted.' And 
I burst into tears at the loss of my beloved commander and three 
parts of my men. * * * Poor Drummond's body remained 
in the American lines, blown up. Col. Scott received a soldier's 
funeral — a most amiable and gallant soldier; indeed, there were 
no two more heroic men in our army." 

General Drummond, who had decided ability for evading 
responsibility, attributed the defeat to the cowardice of the troops 
in Fischer's column, at the same time, as was his custom, praising 
the conduct of the officers. But the great loss the troops sus- 
tained of itself showed their bravery, and Sir George Prevost 
gently reproves Drummond for depriving the soldiers of their 
flints and for ordering a night attack. The preparedness of our 
forces and the precautions taken by Gaines account for the deci- 
sive defeat we administered. Our comparatively small loss was 
due to the fact that our fire could not be returned to any great 
extent, as the enemy's muskets were disabled, and to the fact that 
we were behind fortifications, although the British speak of the 
bravery of our troops. We lost two brave and capable officers, 



50 The Siege of Fort Erie 

Captain Williams and Lieutenant McDonough. Six subalterns 
were severely wounded. Fontaine was blown up in the explosion 
and captured by the Indians, who promptly relieved him of his 
money and valuables but otherwise treated him kindly, which 
prompted the grim remark of Brown, that "It would seem, then, 
that these savages had not joined in the resolution to give no 
quarter." 

After the assault the garrison settled down to the wearisome 
life of the besieged, only enlivened by a skirmish between pickets 
or an occasional shell from the enemy. Fatigue parties were 
constantly at work repairing the damage done to the bastion 
and works during the assault and by the shells of the enemy.* 
These fatigue parties suffered severely in the prosecution of the 
work. Lieutenant Douglass is authority for the statement that 
the daily losses averaged one to every sixteen men at work, for 
the enemy's artillery fired nearly two hundred shots each day, 
mostly round shot. The fire from Battery Number Two was 
directed against the works, while that of Number One was used 
to annoy and injure the garrison. Indeed, it is stated by one of 
the survivors that the thirty days following the assault was the 
most trying period of the siege. Men were continually falling; 
fatigue work around the garrison was incessant, and, as we have 
seen, extremely dangerous. One third of the force was continually 
on duty. The others, at night, slept upon their muskets, with 
bayonets fixed, prepared to resist the assault which might come 
at any time. Douglass says: 

" On the 2nd of August my own little battery though not 
quite finished was platformed and the guns mounted. I made 
my bed on the platform that night; and for many weeks after- 
wards took no rest except on the trailed handspikes of one of the 
guns with an old tent spread upon them and wrapped in a horse- 
man's coat." 

* A large number of pikes were picked up or taken from the British during the assault 
on the fifteenth, and reiected bayonets were fastened to poles. These, being as long as the 
parapet was thick, were laid every evening at intervals along the parapet for use in the event 
of an escalade, and it was thought they would be of great assistance in repelling an attack, 



TJie Period between the Assault and the Sortie 5 i 

As matters stood in this wise, it is not strange that the nerves 
of the strongest men became unstrung and that some seventy 
of the weaker sort deserted from the American forces. 

An Irishman, a subaltern in the Eleventh Infantry, upon re- 
turning to his tent from fatigue work discovered that a round 
shot had taken the tail completely off from his uniform coat. 
Taking it by the collar he proudly showed it to his brother offi- 
cers, saying he had had a narrow escape, as he had thought of 
putting on that very coat that morning. 

Many acts of gallantry occurred during this period. Colonel 
Brooke (then a major), while oilficer of the day, with two men, 
stole out of the fort with a lantern concealed in a watch coat, and, 
proceeding through the enemy's line of sentinels, affixed the lan- 
tern in a tree directly in line between the fort and Battery Num- 
ber Three, then in process of construction. A cord was attached 
to the coat, by means of which the coat was pulled off the lantern 
when the colonel and his men reached the end of the cord. The 
Boston Patriot, referring to this exploit, says : 

"The American batteries, directed by the light of the lantern 
in the tree, opened their fire upon the unsuspecting workmen, 
who could not divine what secret spirit had betrayed the position 
of their laborers until they observed the light swinging in the air 
nor then could form any conjecture by what daring hand it had 
been there suspended." 

The British, by reason of the severe losses which they had 
sustained, awaited reinforcements from York (now Toronto), 
and occupied their forces meantime in planting guns in Battery 
Number Three, situated only about five hundred and fifty yards 
from our works. From this new battery great things were ex- 
pected. 

Minor fights took place almost daily between the lines. On the 
twentieth of August one of these skirmishes apparently occurred, 
for General Drummond, in a matter-of-fact way, writes to the 
governor of Canada, August twenty-first, that ''From the number 



52 The Siege of Fort Erie 

of scalps that xvere taken by the Indians and the number of dead 
and wounded which were seen carried into the Fort, the enemy 
must have lost 40 or 50 men in this affair." 

On the twenty-eighth of August, while Gaines was lying down 
in his quarters, a shell crashed into the room through the roof, 
and, exploding, injured him so severely that he was obliged to 
turn the command over to Ripley. When Brown heard of 
Gaines's injury, although not fully recovered from the wound 
received at Lundy's Lane, he hastened to Fort Erie, and, after a 
few days, assumed command, which he retained as long as the 
siege lasted. 

On the twenty-fifth of August and the fifth of September 
there were quite severe skirmishes, in which the Americans drove 
the English into their works and in which each side displayed 
great gallantry. In fact, Ripley issued a general order on the 
affair of the fifth, congratulating the participants upon their gal- 
lantry. 

On the seventh of September the enemy detached a force, 
and, moving out at daylight, surprised our Picket Number Four, 
killing fourteen men and capturing seven, the entire advance 
party, forcing the balance of the picket to retire into the fort with 
considerable loss. 

The enemy during this period was reinforced by the Sixth 
and the Eighty-second regular regiments, consisting of one thou- 
sand and forty men, which just about compensated for the losses 
during the assault. On the fourth of September the new battery 
was completed. It mounted three twenty-four-pounders, an eight- 
inch howitzer, and a mortar, — a formidable armament for that 
period, when the effective range of a fieldpiece about equaled the 
point-blank range of the modern rifle. 

The official despatches at this period of the siege reveal the 
fact that both sides were becoming extremely apprehensive over 
their respective situations. The Americans had burned the mills 
and destroyed the stores in all this part of Canada. Winter 
was coming on, and not only were the English far from their 



The Period between the Assault and the Sortie 5 3 

base of supplies but there seemed to be small prospect of a further 
supply reaching them at all. Then, too, ammunition was run- 
ning so low it had to be husbanded, and Drummond's army 
was threatened with an epidemic of typhus and typhoid fevers. 
Our forces were so greatly weakened by long and severe fighting 
that on September tenth we could muster only about two thou- 
sand men for field duty, although more were able to do duty within 
the fort. In addition, the garrison was subsisted on salt meat 
and stale bread, as fresh meat and vegetables were so high in 
price and hard to get that they were beyond reach of the majority 
of the men. 

In response to the urgent appeals of Gaines and Brown, vol- 
unteers were called for, and the militia of western New York was 
ordered out by Governor Tompkins. These men were directed 
to assemble at Buffalo, which they did in considerable numbers 
from all the western part of the state. Porter called a meeting 
of the officers, and after a sharp talk ascertained that nearly all 
would volunteer to cross the river, although at first few would 
go. The men were then addressed by Porter in an eloquent 
speech, and nearly one thousand five hundred were persuaded to 
volunteer — about half the number assembled. 

Dorsheimer, in an interesting paper entitled Buffalo during 
the War of 18 12, contained in the first volume of the publications 
of the Buffalo Historical Society, relates the following: 

Porter formed his column at what is now the corner of 
Niagara and Pearl streets. When the command to move off was 
given, and it was apparent the line of march was towards Black 
Rock, a lawyer — probably not from Buffalo, — " who," says Dors- 
heimer, "in such times are scrupulous as to the law in propor- 
tion to the value they set upon their lives, stepped out of the 
ranks and shouted out, 'We are militia of New York and cannot 
be ordered out of the state. It is unconstitutional.' It was 
wonderful how suddenly a love for the constitution developed 
itself in the breasts of the militiamen. Large numbers left the 
ranks and began to clamor against the order. But Porter and a 



54 The Siege of Fort Erie 

few determined officers spurred among the malcontents, arrested 
the ringleader, awed his followers, and, aided by a small detach- 
ment of regulars, restored order." The refractory jurist was 
hustled into a wagon and sent under arrest to Williamsville with 
the information that if he ever returned to Buffalo he would be 
shot without benefit of clergy. 

The force then moved off without further trouble, crossed 
the river, and camped on the lake shore to the left of Towson's 
battery, throwing up a sod breastwork for protection. This 
occurred on September tenth. Their arrival was not hailed with 
great enthusiasm by the regular army contingent of the garri- 
son, whose confidence in militia seems to have been somewhat 
shaken. But these same troops, ununiformed, and poorly drilled 
and equipped, soon showed that if they could not drill they could 
fight; and by their gallant conduct they did more than their share 
toward redeeming the reputation of the American militiaman 
during this war. 

The monthly return of our forces on August thirty-first, 1814, 
was as follows: 







Present for Duty. 


Aggregate 




N.C.O. 


and Privates. 


Officers. 


Present and Absent 


Dragoons, 




27 


I 


48 


Bombardiers, etc.. 




34 




51 


Artillery Corps, 




206 


10 


369 


First Brigade, 




725 


39 


2,3ir 


Second Brigade, 




698 


42 


1,646 


Porter's Brigade, 




220 


16 


599 


First and Fourth Rifles, 


217 


II 


504 



Total, 2,127 119 5.528 



The Sortie 55 

CHAPTER VII. 

The Sortie. 

A brilliant achievement — the only instance in history where a besieging army was 
entirely broken up and routed by a single sortie. — Sir IViUiam Napier. 

Although the Americans had received reinforcements, their 
position was still regarded as critical. Battery Number Three, 
mounting the long twenty-four-pounders, had not as yet opened 
fire; but we had suffered quite severely from the fire of Number 
One and Number Two, and the new battery was much feared by 
Brown because it would rake our position. The spirits of the 
men were sinking under the long and constant strain and confine- 
ment, and, to make matters worse, the weather was bad, much rain 
falling. Brown, therefore, determined to risk a sortie, damage the 
enemy's works as much as possible without too severe a loss to 
himself, and then retreat upon the fort. , 

It will be remembered that the works of the enemy were 
occupied by only one brigade of the enemy, each of his three 
brigades alternating in this duty, while the balance of the army 
remained in camp, nearly two miles away through the woods. 
Brown's plan, briefly stated, was as follows : 

Porter, with a force of about one thousand six hundred, 
composed of regulars, militia, and Indians, was to move out from 
the left, make a wide detour, strike into the woods, and, following 
roads prepared in advance, come upon the enemy's right at 
Battery Number Three, and, after crushing the right and spiking 
the guns of the battery, to turn towards the center and assist in 
the capture of batteries Number Two and Number One. Colonel 
Miller, "for whom batteries had no terrors," with five hundred 
men from the Ninth, Eleventh, and Nineteenth regiments of reg- 
ulars, was to take up a position in a ravine formed by a water- 
course running into the lake, situate some three hundred yards 

LofC. 



5,6 The Siege of Fort Erie 

southerly from the enemy's hne, and, when the noise of Porter's 
attack was heard, to rush in between batteries Number Two and 
Number Three, and attack Battery Number Two and then Num- 
ber One. General Ripley, who, it is claimed, had no confidence in 
the success of the enterprise, and, as Brown states, wished to take 
no part in it, was stationed with the Twenty-first Regiment as a 
reserve out of sight between the westerly bastions of the fort. 
Major Jessup, recently wounded, was left to garrison the fort with 
the Twenty-fifth Regiment, only one hundred and fifty strong. 
The plan of attack was simple, and, if success is any criterion, 
extremely effective. 

On September sixteenth Lieutenants Frazer and Riddle, with 
one hundred men each, fifty armed with muskets and fifty with 
axes, labored all day without being discovered, constructing rough 
roads for Porter's columns up to within one hundred and fifty 
yards of the British position. They also built underbrush roads 
back to the fort from a point near the front of the British position 
in order that the retreat might be unobstructed and the miry and 
impassable places avoided. Much rain had fallen during the past 
twelve days, and the ground in front of our position was little 
better than a swamp. 

The morning of the seventeenth dawned cloudy and dis- 
agreeable, and a light rain was falling. During the forenoon the 
volunteers were paraded, and, after arousing their enthusiasm by 
the announcement of the recent American victories at Plattsburg 
and Lake Champlain, the plan of the proposed sortie was revealed 
to them. It was enthusiastically received. Each volunteer was 
thereupon directed to take off his headgear and tie a red hand- 
kerchief or red cloth around his head so that he might be readily 
distinguished, none of them being uniformed. As the day wore 
on the rain increased, and a hard thunderstorm, almost a gale, 
came up, which continued during the attack. This undoubtedly 
aided our forces in advancing unperceived to the attack until 
right onto the enemy's works, but many of our muskets were 
disabled through water getting into the pans of the guns. 



The Sortie 57 

In the afternoon Porter moved out to take up his position on 
the enemy's right. He sent forward as an advance two hundred 
riflemen, with some Indians, under Colonel Gibson. The balance 
of his force was divided into two columns, which marched parallel 
to each other, following the brush roads. They were guided 
respectively by Riddle and Frazer. Lieutenant Colonel Wood 
commanded the right column, which was composed of four 
hundred regulars and five hundred militia. These troops were 
to attack the enemy's position. Brigadier General Davis, of 
Batavia, who, while senior to Porter, volunteered to muster his 
brigade and fight under him, waiving all question of rank, com- 
manded the left column consisting of five hundred militia newly 
raised. This column was intended to engage the enemy's rein- 
forcements if any should be thrown in. 

These columns reached their position a few yards from the 
right of the enemy's position without discovery, and at about 
three in the afternoon Brown gave Porter the order to attack. 
This order was executed with great vigor, and the cheers of the 
Americans as they rushed to the assault were plainly heard by 
the anxious listeners upon the American shore, notwithstanding 
the storm that raged. 

The British lines that day were guarded by the Second 
Brigade, consisting of the Eighth and De Watteville's regiments of 
regulars. The swiftness of the attack utterly surprised these 
troops, and the Americans soon captured a blockhouse in the 
rear of Battery Number Three, and then the battery itself, destroy- 
ing the much dreaded twenty-four-pounders and their carriages 
and blowing up a magazine. Here the brave Wood* and Brig- 
adier General Davis fell mortally wounded. The loss of both of 
these men was greatly mourned. 

Porter then swung his forces around and attacked Battery 
Number Two conjointly with Major Miller, who had rushed for- 
ward as soon as Porter's attack was heard. After a sharp struggle 



* In the cemetery at West Point, a short distance from the grave of General Scott, stands 
a cenotaph erected by General Brown to the memory of Lieutenant Colonel Wood. It was 
dedicated in iSiS, and the inscription states that he fell while leading a charge at the sortie of 
Fort Erie, September seventeenth, 1S14, in the thirty-first year of his age. 



58 The Siege of Fort Erie 

this battery was captured. Battery Number One was, so Brown 
says, abandoned by the enemy. At all events, it was captured; 
but by reason of the confusion, and the stout defense the British 
soon made, the Americans neglected or were unable to perma- 
nently injure batteries Number One and Number Two, although 
they were temporarily disabled. 

Owing to the suddenness and impetuosity of the American 
attack, the Second Brigade of the enemy was crumpled up and 
driven away before any arrangements could be made to meet the 
attack. It is a maxim of war that "when a force is not deployed 
but is struck suddenly and violently on its flank, resistance is 
impracticable." Chancellorsville, where the Eleventh Corps of 
the Union army melted away before Jackson's fierce onslaught, 
was an illustration of the truth of this maxim. This attack was 
another; and our troops soon swept the front line of intrench- 
ments almost clear of the enemy. 

So far the Americans had accomplished much with little 
loss, but the end was not yet. As soon as the American attack 
was heard, De Watteville promptly sent back to the British camp 
for reinforcements, and the First and Third brigades hastened to 
the succor of the Second Brigade. In the meantime the Second 
Brigade was rapidly reQovering from the demoralization from 
which it had at first suffered. 

The British lines were defended by felled trees, entangle- 
ments, and abattis, and whilst the Americans were struggling to 
penetrate these defenses they were met with a hot fire from the 
enemy posted in the traverses and along the parallel lines of 
intrenchments. Then too, at this stage of the attack the enemy's 
reinforcements arrived and commenced a determined resistance 
to the further advance of the Americans. The fight now raged 
furiously. Hand-to-hand encounters occurred all along the line, 
and sometimes with the bayonet and sometimes with rifle fire the 
enemy sought to regain possession of the lines and drive off the 
Americans, now somewhat confused by the constant fire concen- 
trated upon them from all points and through penetrating the 



The SoT'tie 59 

abattis and entanglements. Although outnumbered, the Amer- 
icans stubbornly resisted, and, regardless of the hot fire, gave 
back blow for blow. 

Brown, fearing for Miller's safety, ordered Ripley forward to 
his assistance, who prompty advanced with the Twenty-first In- 
fantry. Ripley soon received a serious wound in the neck, and 
was borne to the rear.* 

Miller, with excellent judgment, appreciating that nothing 
further could be accomplished, and in view of the superior force 
of the British, began an orderly retreat towards the fort ; and 
Brown soon ordered the other columns to do the same, for the 
object of the sortie had been accomplished. They all reached 
the fort in good order, but with considerable loss, for by this time 
the British were pressing them fiercely. Thus in barely two hours 
the result attempted had been achieved, the enemy irreparably 
crippled, and one thousand men killed, injured, or taken prisoners. 

General Drummond speaks of the retreat of the Americans as 
a " precipitate retrograde movement made by the enemy from the 
different points of our position of which he had gained a short pos- 
session." It should be observed, however, that Drummond, what- 
ever his faults were as a soldier, was a pronounced success at what 
might be termed an explanatory writer. Some one has remarked 
of Cellini that he created his own atmosphere. The same remark 
applies to Drummond. His despatches to his government are 
well worth a perusal. Ingersoll, in his history of the war, dryly 
remarks apropos of this part of Drummond's report: 

"The coincident exertions of both commanders. Brown to 
withdraw his men from, and Drummond with his to recover, the 
British entrenchments, soon effected it." 

In this sortie we lost seventy-nine killed, two hundred and 
sixteen wounded, and two hundred and sixteen missing, a total 
of five hundred and eleven. Of this number twelve officers were 



•Ripley never fully recovered from this wound, althous^h he afterward served a term 
in Congress, 



6o ' The Siege of Fort Erie 

killed, twenty-two wounded, and ten were missing — a most seri- 
ous blow to the effectiveness of so small an army. 

The enemy's loss in killed, wounded, and missing was some- 
what under one thousand, and, according to the American ac- 
counts, we captured nearly four hundred prisoners. In any event, 
the Americans totally disabled his best battery and injured the 
others, besides destroying the morale of his troops. Only the pen 
of a Drummond could convert this disaster into a repulse of the 
Americans, which he did with ease. According to Drummond's 
report his loss was one hundred and fifteen killed, one hundred 
and forty-eight wounded, and three hundred and sixteen missing 
— a total of five hundred and seventy-nine. 

During the progress of the fight crowds lined the American 
shore and listened to the combat during the lulls in the severe 
storm which raged that afternoon. Dorsheimer thus dramatically 
describes what was probably a very simple incident: 

"All through the afternoon no tidings came. Just at dusk 
a small boat was seen struggling in the rapids. An eager crowd 
soon gathered on the beach. In the midst of the breakers the 
little bark upset. One of its crew was seen floating in the waves. 
The bystanders made a line by holding on to each other's clothes, 
and, stretching out from the shore, seized the drowning man. As, 
exhausted and chilled, he staggered up the beach, he gasped into 
the ears of his rescuers the first news they had of the great con- 
flict and victory." 

Many friends of General Porter have contended that the 
sortie was planned by him and that he suggested it to Brown. 
Brown makes no mention of this in his official report or in his 
manuscript memoirs. Porter was a man of much more capacity 
than Brown, and it is quite likely he had to do with planning the 
attack, although Brown was by no means averse to any plan 
which would insure fighting. In any event, Porter was selected 
to lead the most important column, composed partly of regulars 
not in his brigade, which is a significant fact in Porter's favor. 



The Sortie 6i 

HoUey, at one time secretary to Porter, in an article in volume six 
of TJic Magadne of American History, says: 

" Before battery No. 3 was completed, one bright morning 
early in September, as General Porter, Lt.-Col. Wood, and Major 
McRea of the engineers were walking from Towson's battery 
towards the Fort and discussing the progress of the enemy's 
offensive operations, Lt.-Col. Wood half-jestingly suggested that 
it might be expedient to attempt a sortie. But no serious pro- 
posal of such an enterprise was made until some days later, 
when General Porter invited his two friends to his quarters to 
examine a plan for it which he had prepared. This plan was 
discussed and fully matured in several confidential meetings of 
the three officers. It was then submitted to General Brown, who 
was still at Buffalo, whither he had retired, as has been stated, 
after being wounded at the battle of Lundy's Lane. He neither 
encouraged nor discouraged it at the outset, but, on examination 
of it as thoroughly as possible in his absence from the ground, he 
rather objected to the project. 

" General Porter, however, continued to urge it, and his views 
were warmly seconded by the two able engineers to whom he 
had fully explained his plan. The whole army, General Brown 
included, reposed the greatest confidence in these two officers, 
particularly in Lt.-Col. Wood. 

" General Brown finally required General Porter, whom he 
considered responsible for the plan, to give him a written state- 
ment of its details over his own signature. After receiving this 
document General Brown consented that the enterprise should be 
undertaken, and directed General Porter to lead it." 

On the other hand, Major Jessup, at that time serving in the 
garrison, states positively that the sortie was planned solely by 
Brown; and he was certainly in a position to be well informed as 
to what transpired in the little garrison. Major General Brown 
was in command, and as he assumed the responsibility for the 
movement he is entitled to the credit of its success. 



62 TJie Siege of Fort Erie 

An incident during the sortie, in which General Porter was 
the hero, is worth repeating. General Porter, so the story runs, 
while accompanied only by his orderly, was proceeding between 
batteries Number One and Number Two, when, too late to retreat, 
he suddenly came upon a small company of the enemy standing 
at ease apparently waiting orders. Coming up as though at the 
head of a regiment. Porter cried, "That's right, my good fellows, 
surrender, and we'll take good care of you." The ruse succeeded, 
and man by man the company from right to left threw down 
their arms and marched to the rear. Everything went well until 
the man next to the left guide was reached, who, not seeing any 
soldiers supporting Porter, and suspecting the trick, came to 
charge bayonet and demanded that Porter surrender. The boot 
was now on the other leg, but Porter dextrously seized the mus- 
ket and endeavored to wrest it away from the soldier. Several 
comrades came to the man's assistance, and in the melee Porter 
was thrown down and wounded in the hand. Struggling to his 
feet, he told his assailants they were surrounded and if they 
did not cease their resistance he would put them to death. 
This created a slight diversion, and at this juncture Lieutenant 
Chatfield, of the militia, at the head of the Cayuga Rifles, came 
up, thus relieving Porter of an embarrassing situation and securing 
the prisoners as well. This story smacks of the political cam- 
paign more than of the particular campaign with which this 
narrative deals, but it may be true. In any event. Porter, in his 
official report, mentions Chatfield as one "by whose intrepidity I 
was, during the action, extricated from the most luipleasant situ- 
ation." 

On the twenty-first Drummond in great haste retired to the 
old position of the British at Chippewa Creek, leaving some of 
his stores at Fort Erie and destroying others at Frenchman's 
Creek. The raising of the siege showed how severely Drummond 
felt the sortie if his reports do not. It practically closed the 
campaign upon the Niagara frontier, which since July third, 1814, 
had waged with great fierceness. 



The Sortie 6^ 



v) 



The following table of losses is interesting, although it should 
be remembered it does not include the losses in skirmishes and 
minor combats, which were constantly taking place. It is taken 
from General Wright's Life of Scott, and differs very slightly from 
the figures already given. 



Total Total 

British American 
Loss. Loss. 



Battle of Chippewa, July fifth, 1814, 507 328 

Battle of Niagara (Lundy's Lane), July twenty-fifth, 1814, 878 860 

Battle of Fort Erie, August fifteenth, 1814, 905 84 

Sortie at Fort Erie, September seventeenth, 1814, 800 511 

Total, 3.090 1,783 

When we consider that neither side had over four thousand, 
if that number of men, engaged at any time, the immense per- 
centage of loss will be appreciated. 

General James Miller, writing two days after the sortie, says: 

" I was ordered to advance and get into the enemy's works 
before the column had beaten the enemy sufficiently to meet us 
at the batteries. We had no alternative but to fall on them, beat 
them, and take them. It was a sore job for us. My command 
consisted of the 9th, i ith, and 19th Regiments. Colonel Aspin- 
wall commanded the 9th and 19th and Colonel Bedel the nth. 
Colonel Aspinwall lost his left arm. Major Trimble of the 19th 
was severely, I believe mortally, wounded through the body. 
Captain Hale of the nth killed; Captain IngersoU of the 9th 
wounded in the head, and eight other officers severely wounded 
some of them mortally. Colonel Bedel was the only officer 
higher than a lieutenant in my whole command but what was 
killed or wounded." 

After Drummond left our front the fort was garrisoned with 
a small force; and the volunteers, who were praised on all sides 
for their steadiness and bravery during the whole campaign, and 
especially the sortie, were dismissed to their homes. General 



64 TJie Siege of Fort Erie 

Brown put the matter in a few words when he said in a letter to 
Governor Tompkins, "The militia of New York have redeemed 
their character — they behaved gallantly." 

The raising of the siege was completely decisive, and the 
pioneers along the frontier could again rest in peace without the 
disturbing thought that they might be scalped or burned out, or 
both, before another day dawned. The fort was occupied until 
November fifth, 18 14, when it was blown up and destroyed and 
the stores and garrison withdrawn to Buffalo, its possession being 
no longer of value. 

The War of 1812 has been overshadowed by the more im- 
portant events which preceded and followed it, but when an 
adequate history of this trying period of our country's history is 
written, and the battles along the Niagara frontier are recounted, 
Chippewa, Lundy's Lane, and Fort Erie will be awarded places 
high up in the record of the many valorous deeds the history of 
our country affords. And while the history of our brave men is 
written, let due praise be accorded to our former foes, who, through 
the mutation of time and circumstance, are now our nearest neigh- 
bors and best friends. 



THE END. 



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